Standby instruments are required navigational equipment for all aircraft to prevent potentially catastrophic consequences of a failure of the main navigational equipment, which includes instruments for providing primary flight information (“PFI”) to the pilots. PFI refers to those functions that are required by the airworthiness and operational rules, and include airspeed, altitude, attitude, and heading (direction). Standby instruments ensure that PFI is available to the pilot during all phases of flight, and it is required that these instruments provide the pilot with attitude, altitude, and airspeed information after failure of any of the aircraft's main power systems. It is the object of most flights to not have to use the standby instruments.
Electronic displays incorporated into aircraft cockpits are intended to improve cockpit situational awareness by streamlining how information is provided to pilots. However, access to the standby instruments must always be available, which has heretofore prevented a transition to a single electronic display accessible by all members of the flight crew. Thus, traditional electronic displays provide a piecemeal approach to information display.